Robot Workshop Competition Winners

suckerPUNCH recently announced the winners of their Robot Workshop competition. The past few years have seen an exciting rise in the fascination with robotics. Simultaneously, the ability to develop and build robots capable of complex and experimental applications has become easier and more accessible to the general public. From hardware like Arduino to open source programming like Processing, there now exist inexpensive and even free ways to dabble with robotics. With the site located in an open lot in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, the Robot Workshop will be a place people can come to work on their projects, utilizing shop facilities while simultaneously interacting with fellow robot enthusiasts. More images and descriptions on the winning proposals after the break.

First Place: Julian Liang and Hector Romero ‘Nimbus (Robotic Cloud)’ The NIMBUS cloud provides the robotic community a public forum to openly exchange and share knowledge. Outfitted with a massive interactive screen and a street connected communal space, the MEGA-Experimentation Stage allows for infinite possibilities to interact with each other—the belief that the best ideas flourish unexpectedly, through sharing and interaction.

Second Place: James DeChant ‘androidKRAFT’ androidKRAFT is an exploration of the implementation of humanoid robotics in architecture and construction. Integrating computer methodologies and the design and fabrication process, the addition of humanoid robots allows for precise construction, boundless mobility, unlimited memory/processing capabilities, and superb strength. Humanoid robots will not replace humans in the architecture and construction field, but will instead act as an extension of humans and tools.

Third Place: Angel L. Vidro and Michael J. Quinones ‘Divergent Building’ As a linear feature that exists between two tectonic plates that are moving away from each other, the ‘Divergent Building’ breaks, separate and transforms its spaces. As a proposal for the Robot Workshop and inspired by robotic movements, the building applies mechanical systems to achieve its main feature: maximizing the space as is required by the users. The building opens in order to separate the program in two modules, creating a central atrium, which allows ventilation and lighting. Interior spaces can expand growing to the site limits, creating a dynamic façade that is in continuous change.

Honorable Mention: Anirudh Dhawan and Jili Huang ‘_Machina’ The building is a dynamic form embedded and responding to its context by slowly revolving as it moves social gathering spaces to workshop, classroom, and administrative spaces. The heavy duty work involving the utilization of 6-7 axis Kuka robots is maintained in an internal vortex which acts as the controlling spine of the envelope form. The 3d printing and robotics workshops for territorial and responsive robots which involve less bulk tooling are given space above the ground floor.

Honorable Mention: Zach Grzybowski and Quoc Tran ‘URBAN Circuits’ The overall goal of the project was to implement the urban context of Brooklyn with the influence of robotics. The unique context allowed for an interesting juxtaposition of materiality and form through the injection of urban fabric and circuits. The materiality itself is developed from the pre-existing stone work that is prominent in the surrounding area. This observation lead us to develop a skin that assimilates the brick pattern into a physical representation of the urban fabric. The circuits are projected onto the main programmatic spaces [studios, meet up rooms, classrooms] which strategized the manipulation of the cladding.